Day 2!

Hi everyone,

First off, Happy Birthday mom! I hope you enjoyed your birthday.

Now about today: today I worked as a scribe with Dr. Miner. We saw many of the same things; most of the men complained about headaches and ithcy eyes. One man had cancer of the bone in his knee, so he had no leg. He had crutches and still maintained to keep a smile on his face throughout our consult. The children were absolutely adorable. Today we saw many infants, all who were responsive and smiley. Willingly, the parents would hand us their infants and just watch as they smiled and held our hands. Jill was almost the first one to hold an infant; you can tell she loves children. Most people in this batey spoke Creole, but I think that everyone´s Spanish is improving, even those that don´t take Spanish. It´s an amazing experience as a student leader to watch everyone truly enjoy and grow from our trips to the bateys.

Tonight, we are playing basketball, and in about 5 minutes, we are heading to the orphanage. It has been an amazing day; this whole trip has gone so smoothly and is wonderful.

I appreciate all the support that our parents give to us and thank-you for supporting us on this wonderful trip.

I love you mom and dad.
xo Marcela

Joana & Dove: First Batey

Today has been like no other day of our lives! We woke up early had breakfast and rode the bus to the Hospital! At the hospital we met our interpreters who came with us to our first Batey. Our interpreters were extremely nice and helpful throughout the entire day. Our first Batey had an overwhelming amount of people. They were all so anxious to be cared for and especially to recieve donations. It was so hard to say no to the adults and kids when they wanted more. The children were so happy to get pencils and pens because they told us they really needed them for school. Many of the patients were in severe conditions. One that really touched our heart was a teenage boy who had been in a motorcycle accident and his arms and face were completely burned from road rash. This accident had occured a week ago and infection could had been prevented with medical care but he recieved none. His tounge was also parted and it was too late to transfer him to the hospital for stitches.However we were able to give him many antibiotics and bandage his wounds to help the healing and pain. We can´t begin to explain everything we experienced today. We are so excited to talk to you all about it when we get back in more depth! Mom and Dad WE MISS YOU!

FIRST DAY!

We're finally here!!!! Our flight(s) went well, though my ears don't handle altitudes well... I was never so happy to finally reach the hotel and our room so I can finally change my clothes after a longgggg day of travelling. I nearly forgot where my passport was as we went through customs, which would NOT have been good, but for the most part everything went smoothly.

So here we are, in the sunny DR, at the hospital before our first day at the bateys. We spent last night once we settled in sorting out all the toiletries, medicines and other toys. It was EXHAUSTING.. Sunday felt like a week itself within a day. I'm so excited to finally get out there today, though. I'm signed up to work in the pharmacy-basically helping give out the medications to everyone with scripts. It's supposed to be hectic, but we can handle it! It's been great so far.

LESS THAN 9 HOURS!

AHHH WE WILL BE AT THE AIRPORT IN LESS THAN 9 HOURSSSS!!!!! I am so ridiculously excited for this trip (even though I am slightly bitter that I am not officially a part of this blog because I didn't see the invite until now and now it has expired..my bad)!! Working with the less fortunate is something I want to do as a profession later in life, so this is a great first glimpse through a window of opportunity. This is an experience that we will remember and value for the rest of our lives. As Joana and David have already mentioned, I too have been away (skiing in Canada -- now I am very excited to be out of the snow and into the sun!) and am eager to begin this experience! I have been looking forward to it since my brother came back from the trip two years ago and told me all about it, making me enthusiastic to participate in the same expedition.

As they say in Mean Girls: "I just wish we could all get along...I wish that I could bake a cake made out of rainbows and smiles, and we'd all eat it and be happy!"
...pretty much sums up what I hope/think will happen on this trip :)
(also SHYLOE made me put that there)

Sooo I can't wait to see you all bright and early!

-Jenna (even though this says Shyloe posted this because I don't have a blog yet arrghhhh)

so here are some more pictures of the packing extravaganza! We will be at Logan in about 10 hours! that is crazy!

Good to go!

It is hard to believe that the trip has finally arrived. I have been thinking about it all week, even during my various college tours! During my visit to Boston College, our guide made a point of how 90% of the students at BC participate in some form of community service. Traveling all over the world to help in some way or another, the students take service very seriously. This made me think about how important our trip is and how big of an impact we will have on the lives of those in need. These experiences will not only help us with the remainder of our high school days, but will guide us as we begin our lives as college students. We have an amazing group of people on this trip, and I look forward to sharing these life changing experiences with each and every one of them. Wish us luck!
-Kirk N.

Ready to GO

Similar to Joanna, I have also spent the first week of break doing a laborious task. After taking Driver's Ed from 8-3, Monday-Friday, I am ready to get out. I am very excited for the DR to be able to help, and leave an overall lasting impression. Having the past week to recover from the donation-packing was great, and now I'm ready to go. I cannot wait for the warm weather, and to to spend the week helping others with all of you.
See you all before sunrise tomorrow,
David